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Toshiba to Delist After $13.5bn Takeover by JIP and Allies

The deal will allow the vast Japanese conglomerate, which has been plagued by scandals and controversies in recent years, to become a private entity and one that is back in local hands


The logo of Toshiba Corporation is seen at its building in Kawasaki (Reuters).

 

Toshiba said on Thursday a takeover offer by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners and allies has won control of the group.

The JIP consortium, said to include 17 Japanese firms and six local banks, made a tender offer for 78.65% of Toshiba shares that was valued at $13.5 billion (about 2 trillion yen).

The deal will allow the vast Japanese industrial conglomerate – one of the country’s oldest and biggest companies, which makes a diverse range of products from electronics to power stations – to become a private entity.

It also puts the group back in domestic hands, after years of scandals, financial turmoil and battles with foreign activist shareholders.

 

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Toshiba had initially accepted the buyout bid back in March, but some investors were unhappy with the price offered. The company later said there was no prospect of a higher offer or a competing bid.

Although not well known abroad, JIP has been a major player in big moves by corporate Japan. That includes spin-offs for Olympus’s camera business, and Sony’s laptop unit.

 

New owners looking for a fresh start as a private entity

Toshiba hopes that a stable ownership structure will now afford it a fresh start, given it has been battered by one controversy after another since 2015.

That includes scandals over accounting and corporate governance. It also suffered heavy losses and came close to being delisted.

The JIP-led consortium now taking charge features multiple Japanese firms, including chipmaker Rohm and financial services firm Orix.

“Toshiba Group will now take a major step toward a new future with a new shareholder,” chief executive Taro Shimada said in a statement on Thursday.

Toshiba’s largest shareholder, TBJH Inc, is due to take control on September 27, but that move needs to be endorsed by shareholders, at a meeting scheduled in November.

Toshiba will then delist from Tokyo Stock Exchange prior to the end of the year, after more than seven decades as a listed company.

Toshiba has been a manufacturer of personal computers, consumer electronics appliances and medical equipment. It has developed a diverse range of products and industrial systems, from elevators and escalators, to semiconductors, hard-disk drives, printers, batteries and more.

 

  • Reuters with additional reporting and editing by Jim Pollard

 

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Toshiba Bidders Plan 7,000 Yen Per Share Offer in $22bn Deal

 

Japan’s Toshiba Seeks Fresh Blood With Board Nominees

 

Toshiba Shares Jump After Buyout Put Back on Table

 

 

Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years.